I can't explain why I like dogs so much except that I always have. I have a connection with them, and them with me.

Today, I was in line at the grocery store, and overheard the couple behind me commenting that she had run over a large black lab. She couldn't avoid it, she said. She was the second to run over it -- the truck ahead of her hit it first.

DRT. Someone lost a dear family memger.

That breaks my heart.

Here's a story that is also very disturbing, and it happens all too often.

Family dogs kill 2 Tennessee children, injure mom who tried to stop mauling, family says

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...4f298ea3973483e9e4d7

I have 54 years of life lived with dogs and in particular bird dogs and yes, they are wonderful.
The ancient lab from my earliest memories that was just flat Birdy. The shorthair that would lock up solid on sage grouse at 100 yds. A lab I could unload and reload into my canoe with geese and I'd not kayak roll about half the time. Another that slept under the covers for the first six years of her life.

I've not seen much that is more missguided than bringing a non pet breed into a family home. A friend here in town has a Visla and it's a freaky, high strung pain in the ass. No way I'll let my kid around it.

Pitbulls on my property get shot on sight as well as rattlesnakes, tigers, wolves and alligators. If it's not a good domestic fit for my domestic life it doesn't belong at my place.

How terribly sad this family made such a bad choice.

Our dog with no training warns us when my BIL is going to have a seizure.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
Our dog with no training worsens us when my BIL is going to have a seizure.

I rather not interpret that. So, I'll just remain not understanding unless you choose to clear that up.

quote:

Originally posted by Magine Enigam:

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
Our dog with no training worsens us when my BIL is going to have a seizure.

I rather not interpret that. So, I'll just remain not understanding unless you choose to clear that up.

Warns, not worsens.

L has mentioned before his fingers fly while typing on the smart phone and there can be some interpretation.

Okay. That makes sense. BIL I presume means Brother-in-Law.

Sometimes I just need things to be spelled out for me.

So, dogs are very smart critters, given the chance - that I appreciate.

Yes, he warns us of seizures before they start.

It is really an asset at night when I am up stairs.

quote:

Originally posted by Scott King:

quote:

Originally posted by Magine Enigam:

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
Our dog with no training worsens us when my BIL is going to have a seizure.

I rather not interpret that. So, I'll just remain not understanding unless you choose to clear that up.

Warns, not worsens.

L has mentioned before his fingers fly while typing on the smart phone and there can be some interpretation.

This is certainly true. The autocorrect and my smart phone typing is Hell on all of us.

It is a shame dogs are given such sort lives.

I don’t get the mindset of people who insist pit bulls are harmless. Why do they need to “prove” that?

quote:

Originally posted by LongDistanceOperator:
I don’t get the mindset of people who insist pit bulls are harmless. Why do they need to “prove” that?

Fully agree, but from another side, why risk family?
I met a guy years ago that had a snake collection in his apartment with his live in girlfriend, no kids. I of course wasn't within 70 miles of the apartment and would never be, but he and the gal thought it was fine, so whatever.

Why bring an animal even rumored to be hazardous into your kids home? Why keep poison or explosives or a pedophile near your babies?

My little girl has a buddy that has a pitbull in the house and my daughter is banned from being on the property no exceptions. I have been very frank regarding the repercussions of my kid being attacked by a household pet and I believe everyone takes me seriously.

I love dogs too, they have been my constant companions since i was 13 years old. They taught me much and i can say that Ill qualify my initial statement. I love good dogs and hate bad ones. A good dog is a companion with its own character that mostly does as you bid it faithfully.
A bad dog has the potential to cause 10s of thousands of dollars damage, or create frustration with its misbehaviour, or hurt someone.
Whats the difference between a good dog and a bad one? 99% of the time its the owner.

SP, your last comment is right on! My son raised pit bulls for years + they were gentle dogs. His last one was stolen + I felt terrible about that because I just know that the thieves would train him into a fighter. There used to be dog fights out here in the country 40 some years ago. The "trash element" made good money on it. Probably still do, but more hidden.

quote:

I just know that the thieves would train him into a fighter.

Or let him be used as bait - killed for practice.

These people are cruel, and have done a great disservice.

A real pit bull can be gentle and some can be mean. I don't know what sets them apart and what sets them off, but it happens.

IMO, there's too much risk there unless, maybe, the dog was raised from a pup with children.

I live in the country and people dump dogs nearby. They just show up, skinny, tick ridden, scared, and look bad. Some are too wild to redeem.

All but one of my dogs are rescue dogs.

I had a bull dog show up about a year ago. He was still a pup, skinny, shy, listless, dirty, etc. So I kept him outside for most of the winter, fed him, got his meds and shots, set up a bed with a heat lamp and shelter, etc. I think he was mostly English Bulldog, about 40 pounds grown. He came around quickly, very friendly and smart and adjusted well to the other dogs. So, I let him inside the house. He was housebroke immediately - no problems. He turned out to be a beautiful, stocky bulldog. I gave him to a preacher for his mother-in-law, who loves him. They reimbursed me for all the money I put into him for his meds, etc, although I didn't ask, and had him nurtured. I named him Petey after the dog on the little rascals because he has a brown patch over one eye. The preacher and his MIL kept the name although the preacher's name is Peter. I'm sure the MIL had fun with that.

Last report is that all is well and happy.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/famous-dogs-rip/13/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_the_Pup

https://www.msn.com/en-us/vide...de3&category=foryou#

Why German Shepards are the worse.

The flip side:

This is a partial reason that I conceal carry.

I don't like posting or reading stories like this but they serve as an awarness reminder:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/p...ado/?ftag=MSF0951a18

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...4092bdc0301d7d6b0ef0

I love them too.

I may be wrong, but certain breeds I don’t trust. Pit bulls to the point of not being without a loaded gun on my person near them.

Dobermans don’t bug me.

Rottweilers and German shepherds are trusted only around folks I know well.

But the dogs that have personally bit me the most are jack russell terriers. To the point that I will kick them for distance if they behave aggressively. Most are sweethearts but a solid minority aren’t fit for anything but coyote bait.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
I love them too.

I may be wrong, but certain breeds I don’t trust. Pit bulls to the point of not being without a loaded gun on my person near them.

Dobermans don’t bug me.

Rottweilers and German shepherds are trusted only around folks I know well.

But the dogs that have personally bit me the most are jack russell terriers. To the point that I will kick them for distance if they behave aggressively. Most are sweethearts but a solid minority aren’t fit for anything but coyote bait.

I have been impressed with Jack Russel's,........ tenacity.


But what is this about the novice adamant insistence regarding the forced domesticity of all species?
Pythons in an apartment!
Handling gators in zoos and aquariums!
Tigers and lions in zoos and Vegas shows!
Killer Whales at Sea World!
The Retards can't make draft horses cut livestock so they try to make non family oriented dogs like terriers and pointers into couch potatoes.
Then the kids get eaten.

My aunt got a stock dog of some kind at home on the farm after uncle died, it was good company I guess. She said the dog was always working and she used to like to sic it on the wild turkeys on the lawn beating up on the song bird feeders. Otherwise the dog was always herding or coralling something or someone and more than a few heels got nipped.

Not a kids dog.

I've only been bit by three dogs, a dachscund (sp.?), a lab and my own chow. I would never have trusted the chow around children and I would never own another one. He was a very nice dog in general, but could get in a mood on rare occasions. I'd never risk it around strangers and he even bit me.

In my experience any dog can bite. that doesn't worry me, what worries me is big dogs that are bred with powerful bites to inflict damage.
Pitbulls, Rottweilers, mastiffs, german shepherds even.If the show aggression they do not get a second chance with me. Call me biased but size matters in this case.

quote:

My aunt got a stock dog of some kind at home on the farm after uncle died, it was good company I guess. She said the dog was always working and she used to like to sic it on the wild turkeys on the lawn beating up on the song bird feeders. Otherwise the dog was always herding or coralling something or someone and more than a few heels got nipped.

Not a kids dog.

One of those little shit, part dingo, dogs bit me too, on the back of my leg. Sneaky little bastards. The guy owner siced it on by encouraging it, then laughed about it. I tried to ignore it barking but that's when it got me. It marked the end of a forced friendly relationship between me and its owners.

I'm like Shanks about the big ones who have the ability to do real damage, knock or drag a person down and then chew his/her arms off, and they won't quit.

The video made me miss my shepherd. He had such a good soul.
My new dog, rescue again, I've had for 5 1/2 months. 2 yr old ( or so) pit/boxer mix.
Total sweetheart. Loves people and other dogs. He goes into the village store, where the ladies all make a fuss over him. He goes to his "spot" lays down and wags his tail. When one of them gets time, they get him an icecream and feeds him. He closes his eyes and licks it to the cone, then carefully crunches the cone down until they pop it in his mouth. Very scary.

I have seen every kind of dog bite a person. Currently own six dogs. Mostly Labs and English Pointers. I would like to have a Chesapeake but scared to have one in the blind with clients. I have seen too many of them get in fights. I believe the entire breed of Pit Bulls needs to be wiped off of the face of the Earth. I am a dog lover and plan on always owning at least one dog.
My daughter was attacked by a Pitt Bull when she was young. Thank God I was right there and was able to get hold of the dog.
Dog fighting is still popular in this area especially with gang bangers. They steal dogs all the time for bait dogs. I do not understand how people can be so cruel. Ask any person that works for animal control what they think of Pitt Bulls. Owning this breed is like playing with a loaded gun. They live to fight.

As the pitbull is simply a staffordshire bull terrier, it's the people who breed the traits into them, that makes the difference. In the UK, they are known as "nanny dogs" for their love of kids.
It's the small dogs I see as the most likely to bite. Jacks, and border collies are high on the list for back of the leg biting.

Staffies and PB's are different here. The former is legal and the latter is not.

You do see a lot of staffs here in rehoming centres and sadly they are seen as status dogs for those who want a "tough"dog although as you say with proper care they can be lovely dogs.

My family have always had Labs (picking up dogs for bird shooting) but I do love bulldogs. Mine is getting on a bit, he will be 12 next year. He is the gentlest dog I've ever known.

Exact same bloodlines, just bred taller and heavyer. It was only recently PB was given it's own American Kennel title.

The only time I felt seriously in peril from a dog was a pit-bull who belonged to some scum down our county road. I used to run 3 days a week down it. I had to start carrying after the encounter and almost had to kill it a couple of times. Finally got the sheriff department involved and they finally got it removed. They told me to kill it if it threatened me in the meantime.

On the other hand…I had two when I was a kid that were friendly to people esp kids.

Usually the owner that needs killing at the same time.

You will never change my mind about Pit Bulls. You can argue nurture over nature all day but I have seen their true colors too many times. I have been training dogs for over twenty years and we have a large kennel near us that trains police dogs. People that really know dogs know that Pitt Bulls are dangerous. We had a Pitt Bull on the farm when I was a kid. He was very good to me and my brothers but that dog killed every dog that came close to him and bit several workers and friends. They are not trainable like a German Shepard. Never let a child get around one. Also never let a small boy pee outside near ANY dog. That is a terrible accident that happens more than you realize. Always remember that a dog is a dog. Too many people treat them like humans.

quote:

Always remember that a dog is a dog. Too many people treat them like humans.

100%

Just google Pitt Bull and read all of the accident reports as well as municipality ordinances on this breed. I have been vocal about Pitt Bulls for years and how dangerous they are to the public.

The below just happened on Sunday here in Eastern NC. Pool lady had to have her foot amputated and the PB put three people in the hospital.

https://www.cbs17.com/news/loc...id=promo-link-block1

I am not trying to convince anyone, but your experiences are not everyones capt.

Name another breed that consistently and randomly attacks humans like the Pitbull. Most every dog trainer will tell you that they are unpredictable. Random attacks come from nowhere.

chow chow's

quote:

Originally posted by theback40:
chow chow's

and
imo
the most dangerous of the "common" US bred dogs

quote:

Originally posted by theback40:
As the pitbull is simply a staffordshire bull terrier, it's the people who breed the traits into them, that makes the difference. In the UK, they are known as "nanny dogs" for their love of kids.
It's the small dogs I see as the most likely to bite. Jacks, and border collies are high on the list for back of the leg biting.

I have had a lot of dogs in my live including PBs and Rotts. It is true that some PB and Rotts are bad but the ones I have had have been fantastic, they have been the most loving, kind dogs I have ever had. I have seen bad ones and almost every time they were bad because of the owner.

I have had way more issues with the small ankle bitters than PB's and Rott's. A lot of people have bad impressions of PB's and I think they get a very bad reputation because of it.

Mtelk,
I have a lady friend who is a dog behavioral specialist. It's how she makes her living. She goes to homes and watches the people/animals in person.
She said in all but a few cases, it's the owners at fault.
The number one biggest problem is high energy dogs with to little activities to tire them.

quote:

Originally posted by MtElkHunter:

quote:

Originally posted by theback40:
As the pitbull is simply a staffordshire bull terrier, it's the people who breed the traits into them, that makes the difference. In the UK, they are known as "nanny dogs" for their love of kids.
It's the small dogs I see as the most likely to bite. Jacks, and border collies are high on the list for back of the leg biting.

I have had a lot of dogs in my live including PBs and Rotts. It is true that some PB and Rotts are bad but the ones I have had have been fantastic, they have been the most loving, kind dogs I have ever had. I have seen bad ones and almost every time they were bad because of the owner.

I have had way more issues with the small ankle bitters than PB's and Rott's. A lot of people have bad impressions of PB's and I think they get a very bad reputation because of it.

If that ankle biter takes a bite it won't kill or seriously maim somebody. If a PB or Rott takes a turn it can easily turn hard on serious to the point of deadly, as is often happening, regardless of whether or not the owner is crap. My big guy is a Rott, and is wonderful. A big baby, actually. But I've seen him kill coon with a single chomp on the back of the neck, and coons are tough. No way I trust Rotts or PBs, which I consider worse, around kids unless adults are present. Who knows what triggers the inbred violence of a PB.

Enough pit bulls are bad news, that I would never have anything to do with.

When I was a young lawyer, I had a dog bite case. Because of that I had occasion to talk to dog control officers. Uniformity, they agreed that the most unpredictable dog was a Chow.

Some years ago, my wife and I were walking on the beach with our Lab. I have a thing for field trial Labs. I had a handgun in my pocket. My Lab was a male. (I’ve since gone to females. Like em a lot more. Anyway, some dude was walking with his two pit bulls. Big wash basin heads. My dog is running around and from about ten yards away this dude tells me to leash my dog or his dogs will kill mine.
I stopped and looked at him and said, “Your dogs attack my dog and I’ll shoot both of them. Then I’m going to beat you within an inch of your life.”

He rapidly veered off.

When I was in Elementary School between 1st and 2nd Grade. I had a cho. The dog was a female.

I raised her from puppy. She and I went everywhere. I road her, we went hunting together. She would kill rabbits and squirrels.

She bit every but me. I had her until she died.

I would not let my child, that does not exist, be around a Cho.

I do not know why looking back why she was so gentle and loving with me.

Most of the time when she snapped at everyone else she was being protective of me.

What the animal control officers told me was that Chows were unpredictable and gave little warning.